140 Leicester young people came together to take part in four days of art, dance, drama, health studies and law as part of De Montfort University (DMU) Gifted and Talented programme. Six students from Saint Martin’s secured places and gave up part of their Easter holiday to experience life at university and indulge their academic passions. The days were full to the brim with exciting activities and unique workshops. The grand finale was a celebration lunch followed by the students performing, presenting and exhibiting their hard work.Saint Martin’s are extremely proud that a number of students were selected and so very grateful for the support from family and friends (students were required to travel to and from the university each day).The Gifted and Talented Schools have been set up to inspire and further educate Year 10 students on specific subjects in a university environment. The students are provided with the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge by utilising DMU’s fantastic facilities whilst working alongside some of the university’s top academics and students.One student remarked ‘I really enjoyed the challenge of the week. I was able to use the skills learnt in drama at school and through the experience out of school. The event was beneficial and hopefully will help with my planned progression post Saint Martin’s’.

Saint Martin's students continue to be very successful in the UK Mathematics Challenges. In this years Intermediate (Years 9 and 10) Challenge we entered 59 students and achieved 8 gold certificates, 6 silver certificates and 18 bronze certificates.

Six students achieved excellent marks and progressed to the "Kangaroo", a follow up round where the questions get significantly more challenging and one student achieved sufficiently high marks to be entered for the UK Maths Olympiad.

In the "Grey Kangaroo" (Year 9) Mark Marritt and George Wright achieved a "Qualification" grade, both with scores of 91 whilst Adam Preedy Scored 101 and achieved a "Merit". A superb result. Well done.

In the "Pink Kangaroo" (Year 10) Charlie Musson achieved a "Qualification" with a score of 30 and Emma Palmer score 73 and was awarded a "Merit". Congratulations to you both.

Ashton Mitchell was unable to take part due to illness but deserves congratulations for reaching the Kangaroo round.

Jack Dennis in Year 10 reached the Hamilton Olympiad where he scored 47 out of 60 achieving a "Distinction" and a Medal. This places Jack in the top 100 mathematics students in the UK. Magnificent result. Congratulations Jack.

Significant preparation is required for students to be successful. Thank you and congratulations to all the students who took part.

The Junior Maths Challenge for Year 7 and 8 students takes place on 26th April. We will be entering approximately 65 students.